Renting to college students

[Richi Brown]

Hello my BP community!

Im a newbie investor in the Metro Detroit area that is still exploring the different niches that would be good for me! Originally I wanted to pursue multifamily but in the area I was interested in, multifamily properties are not very prominent. Im not completely turned off from multifamily in my area, but I want to also look into other niches that I could explore and see if there could be better options for me.

Within an hour radius there are some big universities that could have a great potential for college tenants. And within about 5 hours you could drive to just about any of the major universities in the state. That being said I am interested in potentially renting to college kids by the room in a 3-5 bedroom SFR or possibly even a multifamily if the numbers work. Is there anyone out there who has or currently is investing in college towns to students? What are pros and cons of doing it?

The two main cons I can think of are summer vacancies and a higher potential for property damage. But I feel like these both could easily get worked out by planning for it when running the numbers and also putting in place a higher security deposit to give extra incentive to the tenants. Are there any other cons I missed out on? Or are there any other ways to get around the ones mentioned? Any input is valuable and I appreciate ALL input!

Richi B